Seven Years
by Frodo Silverlune
Summary: Seven years pass in an instant, from boy to man. Link's discovery of his grownup body after the Temple of Time awakening.


_by FrodoBaggins87_

_Note_: Sort of a companion piece to 'Hero.' Not a sequal, not a 'drabble' like some like to say. Short and simple, but hopefully with some depth.

**Seven Years**

* * *

The temple was still. Gray, silent, revered. As it had been for seven years. And then, an iridescent blue beam of light poured from the ceiling above the empty pedestal, and suddenly a man was standing where none had stood since the Boy had drawn the Sword. The man's feet shuffled in the dust as he looked around the surprised chamber, but none appeared to great him, and the light from whence he had come slid into a thin line and disappeared.

He and his tiny fairy companion were alone.

"Have seven years really passed?" The fairy's high-pitched voice made no echo on the cold stone walls. The man did not reply.

"It looks as though you won't be able to use some of the weapons you found as a kid."

The man nodded, and took a step forward, cautiously, as though walking on glass. Down the steps, one at a time, then he was alert. Slowly his hand crept over his shoulder towards the hilt of a sword, then suddenly with a great metallic ring he had spun around and crouched in a fighting stance with his shield at the ready, sword in hand.

A figure emerged from the shadows.

They spoke.

"As I see you standing there with your grown-up body, you really do look like the Hero of Time."

The Hero put away his weapons.

"If you want to enter the Forest Temple, head to Kakariko Village."

The man nodded his head, turned, and jogged quickly from the room.

* * *

Outside the world had changed. Where was the blue sky, the grass, the trees? What had happened to the people?

Link's heart stopped in his throat and with a cry of disgust he sprang backwards, only to trip over his feet and land on his behind amongst the dry, cracked stones.

'Redead,' his instinct told him, was the sunken skeleton hugging its knees in anguish on the floor. And not one, but at least nine, scattered throughout what had been the marketplace.

Seven years.

What had he done?

"Link?"

His eyes, full of bewilderment and fear, fluttered to her and back to the corpses before him. Dare he speak amongst the living dead?

Gathering himself together, he sprinted through their terrifying haunt and through the broken castle gates.

Hyrule field was changed as well. Brown, scraggly grass. Taller, darker trees. He didn't want to see any more. But at last he was alone.

It was overwhelming, the Changes. What he had done, what he had become. What _was_ he? They said he was Grown-Up, that he was a Man. He had to know what they meant. He needed to know what he was. A mirror. Water.

The small lagoon the river made as it emerged into Hyrule Field was at least one place relatively the same. He sat on a stone in the woods at the eastern edge of the waters' shore and looked at his hands. But how could he see them with the gloves on? How had he gotten the gloves? How did they come off?

The gauntlets. Fastened on the outside of his forearms with four buckles, the stiff leather held its polished shape as he carefully removed them and set them aside. The gloves (what was their real name?) buttoned once at the wrist and spilled off easy enough.

His hands. They were big, too big. And calloused. How had they gotten calloused? Ugly, scabby, tough white skin on his flesh. Tears clouded his eyes, and he wiped them away with his sleeve. Grown Men don't cry.

His hand froze on his face. His cheek was rough and prickly.

'No…'

Yes. His fingers ran over his chin and neck. He had been shaved, and to have been shaved, he had to have had hair. Hair on his face! On his smooth, fine chin horrible hair had grown.

Did he want to know more?

Panic seized him. Had he gone bald? Link tore off his cap and grabbed at his hair, and sighed in relief. At least his hair hadn't changed. It was still long and thick, and blonde.

There was his face in the water.

He stared at it for a long time, still clutching his cap. Who was that? That was his hair, those were his eyes, but what had happened to his face? He had lost weight, it seemed. His cheekbones were sharp and pronounced, his nose had become slender and hard. His eyebrows were more bushy and his chin was firm. He pulled back his lips. His teeth were there, at least, but different.

He had become a monster.

Link tore himself away from the water and clutched his prickly face in his rough hands. Tears leaked through his fingers and fell onto the green cloth of his new tunic. What had he become? What had happened to him?

Anguish and confusion tore at his heart as he mourned for what he had lost. A sob broke from his throat, the first sound his new body had made. It was deep and broken. A hand flew to his throat. Had he lost his voice as well?

"Hello," he said. He had lost his voice.

'You're a man now, Link.'

"A Man…"

He didn't want to be a man. Men had deep voices and hairy faces and calloused hands. He wanted to be smooth and clean and pure again. Why had that been taken from him?

He fumbled with the harness securing his sword and eventually the apparatus dropped to the ground. He slipped off his belt and tunic, boots and undershirt, until he was clad only in his trousers.

Hair!

He was hairy, in his armpits, his legs, and chest. He clutched his clothing to him and franticly pulled his shirt back on.

Was this why the Redeads rocked so? Did they mourn for what they had become, what they had lost?

"Link, are you done yet?"

His attention snapped to Navi's voice.

"I'm a Man," he said.

"Yes, and a handsome one at that."

He didn't care. If only it served to make him more miserable, to confirm the fact.

"So what are you going to do now?"

There was nothing he could do. He would have to get used to it.

He had a country to save.

"We have to get going before nightfall."

Now he knew.

Locking his regret deep inside of him, he replaced his clothing and accessories. But it was different this time. He wondered what he could do now that he was Grown Up. A part of him mourned for his innocence, but his curiosity and spirit of adventure caused him to buckle his sword across his back.

A man. No, he was just Link. And he had a mission to complete. The Hero of Time, Sheik had called him. Maybe people would like him if he was Hero, if he was handsome. But he had yet to earn the title.

What was he fighting for? Oh yes, for Hyrule. And the Princess. And little boys with soft hands who thought they could save the world.

* * *

**The End**


End file.
